The situation at my place of employment is becoming a little unsettling. If you’ve ever survived a “restructuring” before, you will understand what I mean by “unsettling”. One of my colleagues (who works in a different department) just told me that he thinks management is trying to micro-manage his team out. I’ve listened to his concerns and it sounds very much like his department is being carefully scrutinised (at the very least). He is pretty upset about the idea of change because he has been doing the job for years now. I understand where he’s coming from for sure. He wants to keep things as they are and unite with other people in his team against any changes management might introduce.

A very similar thing happened to me and I also decided to unite with two other colleagues feeling defiant and tough. Until we found out that we weren’t being defiant at all, or very tough. We were being played as one of our group members thought their chances would be a lot better if they went to upper management and to HR on their own. I’ll never forget the sting I felt in my gut when I discovered the deceit followed quickly by a foul taste in my mouth that I’ve now learned to identify as the taste of defeat. Lesson learned.

Why didn’t I think to go behind the backs of my colleagues first? I like to think of myself as a survivor for sure, but I also believe most people are inherently good and won’t stab each other in the back the first opportunity they get.

Am I wrong about that? Probably. Naive? Quite possibly, but one thing I’m not is a backstabbing scumbag.

I guess I want to do what I can to help my colleague but at the same time, I want to ensure I offer advice that will actually help. At least better that the advice I was given when I faced the same challenges in the workplace.

After our discussion, I told him to take a breath first and step back from everything that’s happening and think about things a little more. He said he would do that over the weekend. I told him to be careful and to protect himself as best he can and he told me that he trusts his colleagues and that they would never deceive him.

That’s exactly how I felt about my situation as well.

To be continued…